


Solid as earth and fickle as fire

by octopus_fool



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Khazâd November, Pregnancy, Unwanted Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-02
Updated: 2017-11-02
Packaged: 2019-01-28 13:30:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12607700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/octopus_fool/pseuds/octopus_fool
Summary: Ori had always thought Dori was as solid as earth. So he is slightly unsettled when that suddenly changes.





	Solid as earth and fickle as fire

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Day 2 of [Khazâd November](https://a-grump-of-dwarves.tumblr.com/post/166304116735/khaz%C3%A2d-november-2017), the additional prompt was "earth".  
> For this one, I’m going with the version that all dwarves are intersexual and use male pronouns.

For as long as Ori could remember, Dori had been as solid and reliable as the earth. He was there when Ori needed him, no matter what. He was like a mountain that would shelter Ori, soil that fed him, nothing you thought much about, just there, supportive. When Ori was treated unfairly, he could be certain that if he told Dori, Dori would fix it. Then Dori was a force to be reckoned with, like an earthquake, before he went back to being solid and calm.

It was not like Dori to be like this. He huffed and he grumbled and was generally in a worse mood than old Smaug had been when Bilbo stole that cup. His temper was that of the treacherous sea Nori liked talking about, or like a fire that would spring up again in unexpected places just when you thought it had died down. Ori wondered if Nori had done anything wrong since Nori was getting the brunt of Dori’s wrath, but Nori had mostly been at home with a stomach flu for the past week, so he couldn’t have been out stealing things from Erebor’s markets. Ori could understand if Dori was less than pleased at the prospect of catching Nori’s flu, but Dori usually was even more patient when someone was ill. 

So Ori tried to avoid both of them as much as possible and it wasn’t as though he didn’t have enough to do in the library anyway. 

 

When Ori came home late, he wasn’t expecting Dori and Nori to be in the kitchen, though if he had, he would have expected them to be arguing. He was correct in that at least.

“It is my choice, and my choice alone,” Nori said sharply.

“Yes, but I’m allowed to not like your decision,” Dori retorted. “I don’t know why you are so opposed to having a child. Are you afraid of the pregnancy and birth, or why do you insist on getting those herbs from that Lake-town woman? It’s not like you are particularly worried about your reputation.”

Ori drew in a sharp breath. He should have realised. No stomach flu would have upset Dori this way, and Nori had been having an affair with that windy merchant, not that Nori was aware Ori knew.

“No, it’s not that, though I would give a good sum of gold to be able to keep down a meal or two,” Nori replied, making a face. “I just don’t want it, not with the way I’m living. It would be irresponsible.”

“You could always change your ways. I’m sure the child’s father would do the right thing.”

Ori winced in his hiding place beside the door. That was a certain recipe to start up the old argument.

Instead, Nori laughed. “He would do the right thing? I’m afraid you have no idea. He likes a good fuck, and that’s it. So do I, for that matter. And no, I have no intentions of changing my ways, not for you, your notions of respectability or any of this. I’ll take those herbs and everything will go back to normal, including my ‘dishonourable’ lifestyle.”

“I’ll take it.”

“What?” 

“I’ll take the child,” Dori repeated.

“And leave me with charges of abandoning a dwarfling? I think not,” Nori said.

The traditions and laws were quite strict on that, and those charges could have Nori locked up for a fair number of years.

“I’ll pretend it was mine all along. You conceal your pregnancy, I’ll pretend I’m pregnant and we’ll work something out for the birth. I’m sure Oin will let himself be convinced to keep quiet,” Dori said.

“But that would mean your reputation would be damaged,” Nori pointed out. “They would no longer see you as a respectable dwarf.”

Dori huffed. “Who cares about my reputation?! This is a child we are talking about.”

There was a moment of silence, then Nori spoke again. “Are you sure about this? You could sleep over it a few nights.”

“I don’t need to. I have been thinking about nothing else for the past days. If you are willing to do this, my mind is made up.”

“Thank you,” Nori whispered so quietly that Ori could barely hear him. Ori suddenly realised that this matter had been weighing on Nori more than he let on. “I think I like this path much better than the one that leads to Lake-town.”

There was the rustling of cloth and Ori was sure Dori had enveloped Nori in one of his famous hugs. Ori heard a sound that sounded suspiciously like sniffling.

“There, there, it is all going to turn out fine,” Dori murmured.

“I know. Thank you,” Nori replied. “Do we tell Ori?”

Ori decided he very much did not want to know the answer to that question. 

“There’s no need to,” Ori said, stepping into the kitchen. 

Nori laughed, even though it sounded rather wet. “Why do I keep forgetting that I taught you how to sneak up on people?” 

Dori shot Nori a reprimanding glance and beckoned to Ori.

Ori joined their hug, thinking about how much he loved his brothers, both the one as solid as earth and the one who was at the same time as slippery as water and as fickle as fire. And he knew he would love his nephew just as much.


End file.
